Richard Land, an influential leader within the Southern Baptist Convention, is endorsing Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney just days ahead of the Nov. 6 election.

Land, who heads the SBC's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, reversed a personal pledge not to endorse candidates. He said he could not stay silent in an election that was the most important since Abraham Lincoln's win in 1860.

Land made his endorsement in a column for the Christian Post, where he serves as executive editor.

"I am personally breaking a 24-year tradition of not exercising my right as a private citizen to endorse a candidate," Land wrote. "I am endorsing Gov. Romney because he endorses my values and convictions on the issues discussed in this column. Yes, this election is that important."

Land said his endorsement was made as a private citizen and not on behalf of the SBC, which counts more than 16 million members and is one of the world's largest Christian organizations.

EthicsDaily.com, a web site that reports on issues of faith, noted that Land turned to the issue of abortion to make the case of Romney over President Barack Obama. But contributing editor Brian Kaylor said Land did not mention that Romney disagrees with the Republican platform on the issue of abortion.

"Land's break with his tradition of thinly veiling his endorsements to officially endorsing Romney appears to fit with his antagonism toward Obama more than his admiration for Romney, especially as his endorsement focuses on the Republican platform and not Romney's positions," Kaylor wrote.

Land said the "stark and revealing" differences between the Republicans and Democrats on abortion rights and same-sex marriage guided his decision.

"For Christians of traditional religious faith, there cannot be more fundamental issues than the protection of the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death and the defense of marriage as a divinely-ordained institution between one man and one woman," he wrote.

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